Balcony

Balcony now supports public agencies responsible for more than $400B in property value on our platform — and today we’re excited to announce our $14M raise to continue building the digital infrastructure behind the U.S. property market. Property records power ownership, lending, development, taxation, and local government, yet much of the underlying infrastructure still operates on fragmented systems built decades ago. We believe the next generation of real estate infrastructure will be defined by trusted digital records, interoperability, security, and systems designed for a more connected and automated future. Proud of what our team is building alongside incredible public sector partners across the country. Huge thank you to everyone who believed in us early. We’re just getting started.

Proud to announce Balcony’s latest raise as we continue building the digital rails connecting government land records to the future of onchain real estate, tokenization, and financial markets. We believe property infrastructure is going to become programmable, interoperable, and globally connected over the next decade, and this is just the beginning.

Congrats to @BalconyHQ on raising $14M 🎉 Property records are foundational public infrastructure, but most systems managing them are decades old and were never built to work together. Balcony partners with governments to fix that: blockchain-secured, tamper-proof, connected property data. They're already supporting $400B+ in property value on platform. This is what real RWA infrastructure looks like. Proud to have backed the team since pre-seed.

Today, we’re excited to announce Balcony has raised $14M to date, to help modernize the infrastructure behind the U.S. property market. Property records are some of the most important public records in the country, but many systems managing them were built decades ago and were never designed to work together at modern scale. Balcony works with governments to help organize, secure, and modernize property data infrastructure — creating a stronger digital foundation for the next generation of real estate, financial, and civic systems. As technology continues to evolve — from automation to blockchain-based coordination and verification — trusted public data infrastructure will become increasingly important. We believe the future starts with clean, connected, and reliable property records. We’re proud to already support public agencies responsible for more than $400B in property value on our platform today. This next chapter is about continuing to build trusted infrastructure for the public sector and the broader real estate ecosystem alongside the many great partners already serving the industry. Huge thank you to our team, customers, partners, and investors — especially BlockChange Ventures and @avax — for believing in the mission. prnewswire.com/news-releases/…

The Farm Bill passes House vote, blocking hostile nations from owning American farmland. The push follows a 2022 case where a China-based company's U.S. subsidiary purchased farmland near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. According to the USDA, foreign entities currently hold 45 to 46 million acres of American farmland, roughly 3.6% of privately held farmland. The amendment was introduced by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) and approved by a bipartisan voice vote.

Seller Impersonation Fraud Is Accelerating A Colorado farmer found out scammers were selling his Texas land when a friend called asking about it. He reported it to two sheriff's offices and the FBI. "I couldn't find a law enforcement agency that was willing to investigate... No response whatsoever." The data: > 62% of real estate fraud involves vacant land > 43% of scams used fake notary credentials > 85% of title insurers say seller impersonation is somewhat common in vacant land deals One brokerage gets 3-5 fraudulent seller inquiries per week.

Arizona Cracks Down on Deed Fraud, Makes False Filings a Felony SB 1479 will: > Require photo ID for in-person recordings > Create property alerts for ownership and address changes > Make false filings a Class 5 felony > Expand disclosure requirements on property transfer forms > Require thumbprints for most deed notarizations The bill was signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs after receiving unanimous support in the Arizona Senate.

Cyberattacks pushed county operations offline in West Virginia and Mississippi Harrison County, WV > Several government offices shifted to manual operations > County Commissioner President said it was the second cyberattack she has dealt with in office Adams County, MS > County servers were shut down for more than a week > Recovery and system upgrades are expected to cost more than $250,000

Four Arrested in a Deed Theft Protest, including an NYC Councilman. Now, NYC Mayor Mamdani has introduced a new Office of Deed Theft Prevention in New York City. The agency will investigate deed theft complaints, educate homeowners, intervene in eviction cases, coordinate with city departments, and help victims recover losses. "While scammers continue to prey on vulnerable homeowners, our city lacks the necessary resources to prevent, investigate, and prosecute crimes of deed theft," lawmakers said. The issue has become a bigger focus in New York as officials face growing pressure to stop homeowners from being pushed out through fraudulent property transfers.

Foreign land ownership transparency becomes a national priority as the PLOT Act is introduced. The Property Location Oversight and Transparency (PLOT) Act would require USDA to collect geospatial boundary data on foreign-held agricultural land. It would also lower disclosure thresholds for foreign adversaries and require USDA, in coordination with ODNI and DoD, to use that data to identify potential national security concerns tied to military installations, critical infrastructure, and sensitive environmental areas. Sen. Pete Ricketts introduced the legislation, saying it is intended to strengthen oversight of foreign farmland acquisitions and address national security concerns tied to Chinese ownership near sensitive sites.

🚨Virginia Lawmakers Unanimously Pass New Deed Fraud Protections HB 163 and SB 316 would: > Require settlement agents to verify seller identity before closing > Mandate notary journals for all Virginia notaries > Create new education and exam requirements for notaries > Require circuit court clerks with e-filing systems to offer free property alert notifications The bills passed during the 2026 Virginia General Assembly session with broad bipartisan support.

As AI makes fraudulent documents more convincing and cyber threats continue to put critical government systems under pressure, stronger verification and recovery layers matter more than ever.

Read the full article here: thelegaldescription.com/tld/articlestl…

“One of the best use cases of blockchain is that it truly helps you verify what's real and what's not,” - Greggory Lester, co-CEO and co-founder of Balcony At PRIA’s 2026 Winter Symposium, Lester laid out a practical view of blockchain in land records: not as a replacement for recording systems, but as a security layer that helps verify authenticity, strengthen trust, and support recovery when critical property data is at risk.

🚨Real estate fraud losses have nearly doubled since 2023. The FBI just released its 2025 Internet Crime Report, and the numbers are alarming. In 2025, over $275 million in losses were reported from real estate fraud alone. That's up 59% from 2024 and approximately 90% from 2023. Complaints jumped 32% year over year, from 9,359 in 2024 to 12,368 in 2025. The problem isn't just the scammers or advancing technology. It's the infrastructure. The systems that handle property data, records verification, and closing coordination were not built for this threat environment.

🚨Foreign adversaries are purchasing American farmland near U.S. military installations. The FARMLAND Act has been included in the Farm Bill, which passed out of the House Agriculture Committee. What it does: - Authorizes CFIUS to review foreign land purchases over $5M or 320 acres - Requires annual national security risk reports from USDA and DHS - Directs the USDA to create a public database of foreign agricultural land ownership - Bars foreign-owned land from federal farm programs An estimated 50% of U.S. farmland is projected to change ownership over the next 20 years. Without proper safeguards, adversaries like China could expand their foothold in American land and agriculture, threatening national security.

Ohio lawmakers just introduced HB 749 to crack down on deed and title fraud. If passed, the bill would: - Require photo identification as part of the deed recording process - Establish a 24-hour waiting period on property transfers - Mandate additional training for real estate agents on recognizing and preventing fraud The bill was introduced by State Reps. Bill Roemer and Matt Kishman.

Ransomware attacks cost U.S. state and local governments roughly $2 MILLION per incident in downtime and lost services. 80% of surveyed state and local agencies have fewer than 5 cybersecurity staff. 70% cite insufficient funding. These include county offices managing property records, tax payments, and resident data.

JUST IN: Deed Theft Complaints Jumped 240% Over Two Years in New York City "With the technology advancing and new ways of creating documents… it's becoming much more prevalent" Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz The surge reflects growing vulnerability in property ownership security across the five boroughs.

Rusk County, Wisconsin just lost access to parts of its county network, for the second time in 5 months. This is the fifth time a Wisconsin public entity has gone offline in under a year. When Iowa County's network went down last April, permitting, records access, and nonemergency services all went with it. County land records and property data shouldn't have a single point of failure. When county systems go down, deed records, title searches, and property transactions go dark. Keystone was built to solve exactly this. It operationalizes county data so it stays accessible even when internal systems don't.